Business 3 min read By Trevor Kendall
Hybe Posts Record Quarterly Revenue and Profit on BTS Tour and Katseye
Korean entertainment company Hybe reported its highest quarterly revenue and operating profit on record, driven by BTS's world tour and the strong performance of the group Katseye.
Hybe, the South Korean entertainment company behind BTS, posted the highest quarterly revenue and operating profit in its history in the third quarter of 2026. The gains were driven largely by BTS's world tour and by the success of the group Katseye.
Revenue for the quarter reached KRW1.5257 trillion, or about $1.13 billion, while operating profit came in at KRW188.5 billion, or about $140.2 million. Both figures beat the records the company had set in the second quarter, showing that momentum built earlier in the year carried into the following months. The company's performance in the second quarter had already set a high bar, so the third-quarter gains extended a run of growth rather than a single strong period.
The results matter well beyond one company's balance sheet. BTS's tour has been among the largest revenue drivers in the global music business, and Hybe's ability to turn a major tour and a rising act into record earnings underlines how central touring and fan spending have become to the modern K-pop industry. Concert tickets, merchandise and fan engagement all feed directly into a company's earnings when a group of BTS's scale is on the road, and that dependence on live performance is a key reason why tour schedules are closely watched by investors.
For a company that has spent years building a presence well beyond Korea, the numbers signal that its strategy of pairing global superstars with newer acts is paying off financially. Katseye's contribution to the quarter shows that the company is not relying on a single act to carry its results, and that a newer group can generate meaningful revenue alongside a veteran act with a worldwide following.
A separate business story in the same news cycle points to the wider appetite for strong quarterly results across entertainment and technology. Apple's fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, which ended in September, rose 12% and beat Wall Street forecasts, led by strong iPhone sales. Mac sales also climbed sharply. Apple's services division, which includes Apple TV, was slightly softer than expected, and iPad and wearables sales came in below estimates. Earnings per share were lifted by a sizable tariff refund. Those results are reported separately from Hybe's and do not change its figures, but they show how investors are weighing consumer demand across the media and tech sectors.
Hybe's record quarter reinforces a pattern of strong performance for a company whose fortunes are closely tied to the fan communities that follow its artists. Its results for the third quarter of 2026 set a new benchmark for the business, and the company's next earnings reports will show whether the tour-driven surge can be sustained once the touring calendar changes.
Source: variety.com
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